The goals of this research on health orientations of parents and children are first, to describe variations in attitudes, values, beliefs, perceptions, and behavior concerning phenomena of illness and health; and second, to examine how selected personal and situational factors relate to these orientations. Individual perspectives on health, illness and illness-related stress, and the social role of the sick person are to a considerable part learned, and much of this social learning takes place in the interpersonal relationships of family life. Systematic research can shed light on this aspect of socialization, the process by which health orientations are acquired and modified.